


Obstacles

by JoiningJoice



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: (this was written prior to the whole Adam reveal), Hugs, Hurt/Comfort, Introspection, M/M, Missing Scene, Pining, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Reunions, Set in the middle of Episode 1x01, Shiro (Voltron) is a Mess, after Shiro is saved
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-21
Updated: 2018-10-21
Packaged: 2019-08-05 08:02:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 865
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16364006
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JoiningJoice/pseuds/JoiningJoice
Summary: He breaths in heavily and turns to Keith, who holds his breath as if he’s being caught in the middle of committing a crime; but Shiro just stares at him unfazed by his awakened state. He’s not really looking at him, really, and once again Keith wonders if he’s actually there – in that room, with him – until, frowning, Shiro speaks to him.« Keith, is that… really you? »Shiro is a mess and Keith is in love with him.





	Obstacles

**Author's Note:**

> _Someday we will foresee obstacles_   
>  _Through the blizzard, through the blizzard_   
>  _Today we will sell our uniform_   
>  _Live together, live together._

 

                It doesn’t surprise Keith to hear Shiro getting up as the first lights of dawn reach for them. For a few moments he just stares at his profile drowning in that soft, cozy light, contrasting the stiff and defined features of his face; he wants to raise his hand and caress his cheek with no hesitation his gesture, but he’s afraid he might interrupt who knows what kind of stream of conscious it’s going through his mind – and he’s afraid of Shiro, of the silence he seem to be engulfed in since Keith brought him home. He can still see his eyes clouded by pain as he tries to explain to him what has happened with the help of his new companions, that partial absence dictated by horrors that Keith can’t even imagine. Whatever happened to him must have scarred him irreparably: the soldier that once infused bravery in him and gave him something to believe in is now the shell of his former self, a nervous and silent being that fell into a weary sleep as soon as Keith wished everyone goodnight, delaying the actual explanations to the following day.

                But right now, in the sacrality of that new dawn and in that silence, Shiro seems different from the night before. He looks ahead with widened eyes, alive and present – as if he just woke up for the first time, as if he has only now realized he’s safe. As if he’s readjusting to earth’s gravity, anchoring himself to that floor and that reality.

                He breaths in heavily and turns to Keith, who holds his breath as if he’s being caught in the middle of committing a crime; but Shiro just stares at him unfazed by his awakened state. He’s not really looking at him, really, and once again Keith wonders if he’s actually there – in that room, with him – until, frowning, Shiro speaks to him.

                « Keith, is that… really you? », he wonders, his voice reduced to a weak murmur. Before Keith can think of an answer Shiro turns around, placing his feet on the ground and letting the blanket that Keith has covered him with slide away from his body; he looks around marveled until his gaze fixes on the closer window. « Am I really here? »

                Keith seeks for the best words to answer him, but can’t seem to find them. He watches as he gets up on his feet, as he gets closer and kneels before him – frozen as Shiro places his left hand on his face and touches it, and it really doesn’t matter that he was leaning on his back as he brought him to safety the night prior: this is the first time he has actually time to feel his touch since he came back. His hand joins Shiro’s on his face, tears pinch menacingly in his eyes – he has cried only once since he disappeared, and then he shut his feelings in a chest with no hope of ever opening it back again, but right now he feels the knot he didn’t even realize was blocking his throat getting tight enough to kill him.

                Shiro slowly gasps, unable to realize that what he’s looking at isn’t just a dream – and then, overwhelmed by panic, he suddenly gets up. He moves back, a small wrinkle showing between his eyebrows as a sign of fear.

                « You’re not just one of their tricks? », he places his hands on the chair behind him and presses it firmly, to be sure he’s not dreaming. Keith shakes his head, clenching his lips to prevent tears from coming up. « They can’t have entered my head deep enough to find you… »

                « Shiro », he calls for him, and Shiro jumps again. Keith breathes deeply, too nervous to decide which kind of tone he should use with him. « I have no idea what you’re talking about. It’s me. Keith. »

                Shiro doesn’t say anything for a long moment. The realization slowly falls over him, heavier and realer with each breath they both breathe. Then, finally, he answers with a whisper: « I’m free. »

                Keith’s mind suggest him that nodding is the right thing to do – and for a moment he thinks he might even manage to listen to himself, but the moment next he’s closing the space separating him from Shiro, throwing his arms around his shoulders and dragging him down for the first time in twelve endless months. « You’re free. », he reassures, nodding over and over. He’s shivering, and so is Shiro – so strong that his legs get weak and suddenly he’s heavy in Keith’s arms, but not heavy enough for him to let go. He murmurs his name in that tone that only he knows, the tone that had become synonym of affection and protection and everything Shiro has brought into his life before the accident. The tone he did not believe he would ever hear again.

                « I’m home. », he smiles against his neck, leaving a kiss there as he tries to hug him tighter. “Yes”, Keith thinks, but he’s unable to tell him – he merely proves it by kissing away the tears on his cheeks. For the first time in months, he feels at home as well.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Posting the translation a year and like a hundred seasons later like a champ


End file.
